Reversal

Wang San woke up, and the situation turned around in an instant.

The hall master fighting Feng Shiyi was utterly confused, while Feng Shiyi was overjoyed. He finally understood why Du Ge had risked his life to keep Wang San alive. The Heavenly Demon was even more terrifying than he'd imagined. This was in the bag.

"Giegiegiegie, is this what my lover's blood tastes like? So sweet..." Wang San leaped out of the water vat, dipped his hand in the corpse's blood, and held it beneath his nose, inhaling with delight. Then he looked at the men surrounding Feng Yunjie and slowly smeared the blood over his face. "My lovers, am I really that scary? Why are you running away? I'll break your legs so you can never run away again. I'll kill you so you'll never fall out of love with me. Am I clever or what? Hurry up and praise me..."

This time, Wang San targeted the two men surrounding Feng Yunjie. Fear had disrupted Feng Yunjie's moves, and he could barely defend himself.

"No!"

The three of them, Feng Yunjie included, let out piercing screams in unison. They dropped their weapons and fled in a panic, like headless chickens searching for somewhere to hide.

"Killing is protecting. Let me free you from a life of sin." Du Ge found himself a lofty excuse. His figure flickered, and the moment any of them turned their backs, he darted up like a ghost and ran his sword through their hearts.

After backstabbing several people, his attributes rose a little more, and he became even more adept at attacking from behind.

One struck fear into their hearts, while the other protected Wang San and launched surprise attacks from behind. The two worked together seamlessly.

The remaining members of the Iron Palm Sect had no idea what was happening, but their companions' bizarre deaths dealt a terrible blow to their morale. They stared at Wang San and Du Ge in terror, unable to summon even a shred of fighting spirit.

"Those Heavenly Demons are monsters, not human!" one of them cried in panic. "Hall Master, let's retreat! If we don't leave now, we'll all die here..."

The Iron Palm Sect's hall master had never seen a fight like this. It was beyond anything he knew.

He wanted to retreat, but he was reluctant to abandon seven or eight of his men. Besides, he could see that this so-called Heavenly Demon's martial arts weren't martial arts at all. He was relying entirely on his physical abilities and his demonic arts.

Gritting his teeth, he forced Feng Shiyi back with a palm strike, then sprang toward Wang San. In his eyes, if he took out Wang San, who was disrupting their minds, the remaining Feng Qi wouldn't be a threat. Capturing one Heavenly Demon would be enough to answer for his mission.

He was fast. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Wang San. The hall master was so close that Wang San's heart lurched. He was so frightened that he forgot to speak, and by the time he tried, it was already too late.

Fortunately, Du Ge kept an eye on everything behind him. The instant the hall master moved, he whipped around and stepped in front of Wang San, holding his sword out level and waiting for the hall master to run into it.

Wang San stared at Du Ge standing in front of him, momentarily stunned.

The hall master seemed not to notice the sword Du Ge was holding out. He brought his palms together in a crossing strike, and Du Ge's sword snapped into three pieces.

Du Ge hadn't expected the sword to break, and he froze for a moment. In that split second, the hall master's palm struck his chest, though he held back seven-tenths of his strength. He had come for the Heavenly Demons; he couldn't just kill them all.

A tremendous force lifted Du Ge off his feet and sent him crashing into Wang San. The two rolled together across the floor like a pair of tumbling gourds.

The impact jolted Wang San awake. "I love you! How could you treat me like this..."

A nameless fear surged through the hall master. But his will was stronger than that of an ordinary sect member. He suppressed his terror, raised his foot, and stomped hard toward Wang San's abdomen.

At the critical moment,

Du Ge threw himself over Wang San again, acting as a human cushion.

Agony tore through him.

Pfft!

A mouthful of blood sprayed from Du Ge's lips. Then, because he had risked his life to protect Wang San, his wounds began healing rapidly. "If you want to kill him, kill me first."

Wang San's pupils trembled. "...How could you treat me like this? How could you? I'll cut you open and look at your heart, see if I'm really in there..."

Wang San kept talking, and the hall master's fear grew stronger and stronger. Gritting his teeth, he raised his trembling foot once more, but before he could bring it down—

Bang!

A dull thud rang out.

His body suddenly flew through the air. Feng Shiyi had arrived and struck him in the back with his palm.

The fight had been completely one-sided, yet Du Ge and Wang San had turned the tables in an instant. Feng Shiyi now understood how important the Heavenly Demons were, and he naturally did everything he could to save them.

Feng Qi in particular had proved through his actions that he would truly risk his life to protect others!

He was still weak now, but once he grew stronger and came to protect the Feng Family, they would surely enjoy peace and prosperity. Feng Qi absolutely couldn't die—and he was the only one who could keep the other Heavenly Demons in line.

At that moment, Du Ge's importance had already surpassed Feng Yunjie's in Feng Shiyi's eyes.

If Feng Yunjie died, they could have another son. If Feng Qi died, he would be gone for good.

With the Iron Palm Sect's hall master no longer attacking him, Du Ge finally managed to stand up. His actions had fulfilled the Keyword of protection, so the moment he got to his feet, the hall master's injuries healed completely.

There was no denying it.

He had really benefited a lot from his Keyword, Protection.

If he'd had a different Keyword, then with injuries this severe and no way to move, he would probably have been doomed.

The hall master had been sent flying, and he used the momentum to charge toward the stairwell. With his fear compounded by his serious injuries, he had no desire to fight. All he wanted was to escape this hellish place as quickly as possible.

With their hall master fleeing, the remaining Iron Palm Sect members dared not stay and fight. They abandoned their opponents and bolted for the exit all at once.

Du Ge's sword was broken, and he had no weapon at hand. So he simply pulled out every throwing knife in his knife pouch and hurled them all, one after another.

Attacking from behind met the condition for a Dexterity bonus. It didn't matter what weapon he used.

In the blink of an eye, Du Ge hurled more than a dozen throwing knives, his arms moving so fast they blurred.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The narrow hallway left almost no room to dodge the knives.

A string of screams rang out as the Iron Palm Sect members fell one after another.

The hall master was hit too. A throwing knife plunged into his right lung from behind, disappearing up to the hilt. He fell to the ground and convulsed, blood bubbling from his mouth. He was clearly beyond saving.

Those who had been lucky enough to avoid the knives were caught by Feng Shiyi, who chased them down and killed them with a few palm strikes. He also went around snapping the necks of those who had been hit but were still alive.

The noisy hallway was filled with the thick stench of blood, then fell silent. Feng Yunjie was curled up in a corner, his teeth chattering. He was one of Wang San's beloveds too, and Fear of the Delicate affected everyone Wang San cared for. He'd been caught in it as well, and he was already terrified out of his wits.

Three of the five direct disciples were dead, and the two who remained were injured. Looking at the carnage, Feng Shiyi spat out a mouthful of blood. "Seventh Master, we can't leave any survivors. This is Iron Palm Sect territory. If they get back and send word, none of us will make it out."

Although the Heavenly Demons' fighting style was strange, even downright demonic, Feng Shiyi had seen enough of Feng Qi's oddities that he wasn't particularly surprised. If anything, it made him fully accept Du Ge as the leader of their group.

"Leave? Where to?" Du Ge asked.

"Seventh Master, the Iron Palm Sect attacked Xingyu Tower, and they knew exactly where to find us. Clearly, there's a traitor in the Feng Family. We can't stay at Xingyu Tower. We need to return to Feng Manor and hide for now, then come up with another plan," Feng Shiyi said.

"Second Master, who do you think the traitor is?" Du Ge asked.

"..." Feng Shiyi fell silent for a moment, then gave a name. "Feng Zhong. But I can't understand why he'd do this. He's been with the Feng Family for years, and his wife, children, and the rest of his family are all here..."

"Unless he's not himself anymore." Du Ge chuckled. "We can ask a waiter whether anything happened to Feng Zhong in the last couple of days." He glanced at the two uneasy direct disciples and reassured them, "Don't be afraid. If a Heavenly Demon has possessed him, he wouldn't expose himself just because you asked him for information."

He turned back to Feng Shiyi and smiled. "Second Master, perhaps your family really has answered Heaven's Mandate. Your family isn't even that large, yet four Heavenly Demons have descended upon it."

"Seventh Master, you jest." Feng Shiyi gave a bitter smile. "There's no point in investigating Feng Zhong right now. The urgent thing is to leave as quickly as possible. Once the Iron Palm Sect realizes what's happened, it'll be hard to escape."

"Second Master, do you think Feng Zhong's betrayal would be limited to selling out just us?" Du Ge smiled. "Don't forget, there's another Heavenly Demon at Feng Manor."

Feng Shiyi looked at the two direct disciples.

One of them said in a panic, "Second Master, Shopkeeper Feng did ask us about the family's situation."

Feng Shiyi asked bitterly, "And you told him?"

"Please punish us, Second Master." The man dropped to his knees with a thump and stammered out an excuse. "At the time, we didn't know Feng Zhong had been possessed by a Heavenly Demon. I thought we'd still need Shopkeeper Feng's help with things in Luyang City, so I told him everything about the manor."

In an instant,

the color drained from Feng Shiyi's face.

Wang San glanced at Du Ge, still shaken. Feng Zhong knew his situation inside out. If Du Ge hadn't stepped in, Feng Zhong would have gotten him sooner or later. That man had been so ruthless about using others to do his dirty work that he almost certainly wouldn't have spared him.